Verizon posts big revenue beat for Q2, ups FY forecast; shares rise

U.S. telecom Verizon (NYSE:VZ) raised its profit forecast for full-year profit and posted a massive topline beat in its second-quarter earnings report.

Shares of the company were up nearly 5% in premarket NYSE trading on Monday.

Verizon now expects adjusted earnings per share growth of 1% to 3%, up from the 0% to 3% previously provided for 2025.

According to calculations done by Seeking Alpha, if EPS grows 1%, it would miss estimates by 3 cents; if it hits the midpoint of the guidance, it would beat by just 1 cent; and at 3% growth, it would beat by 6 cents. The consensus estimate for 2025 adjusted EPS is $4.67. The company earned $4.59 apiece in 2024.

The company also raised its adjusted EBITDA growth to 2.5% to 3.5%, from 2% to 3.5%; cash flow from operations to $37B to $39B (est. $36.5B), from $35B to $37B; and free cash flow of $19.5B to $20.5B (est. $18.24B), from $17.5B to $18.5B.

It has maintained its wireless service revenue growth of 2% to 2.8% and capital spending budget of $17.5B to $18.5B. The full-year guidance does not reflect any assumptions regarding the pending acquisition of Frontier, Verizon said.

“Verizon delivered a better-than-expected Q2 report, managing to see double-digit growth in their equipment revenue and broadband connections segments,” said The Dividend Collectuh, contributing analyst to the iREIT+Hoya Capital investment group on Seeking Alpha.

Wireless equipment revenue in Q2 was $6.3B, up 25.2% year-over-year. Total broadband connections grew to more than 12.9M at the end of Q2, up 12.2%.

“I think VZ looks poised to see tailwinds from lower interest rates in the next year and will likely deliver on their goal of achieving 8 to 9 million fixed wireless access subscribers within the next 3 years. If they continue their performance while adding a share repurchase program, this could lead to strong price appreciation in the coming years,” the SA analyst said.

In Consumer, the telecom saw 51,000 wireless retail postpaid phone net losses vs. 109,000 losses last year. Wireless retail postpaid phone churn was 0.90%. The segment also saw 50,000 wireless retail core prepaid net additions vs. 12,000 net losses last year.

Under Broadband, net additions were 293,000 during the quarter vs. 339,000 in Q1.

“The company is well-positioned to achieve the next milestone of 8 to 9 million fixed wireless access subscribers by 2028,” Verizon said while adding that it remains on track to achieve 650,000 new passings in 2025 as part of the Fios footprint expansion.

Verizon Business saw 65,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions vs. 94,000 additions in Q1. Operating income in the segment rose 27.6% to $638M.

For the three months ended June 30, the New York-based company earned net income of $5.12B, or $1.18 per share, compared with $4.98B, or $1.09 per share, a year earlier.

On an adjusted per-share basis, it earned $1.22, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.19 per share.

Revenue was up 5% at $34.5B and was ahead of the consensus mark by nearly $800M.